Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Itau Unibanco Put Options (NYSE:ITUB)

Key Points

• Unusual bearish options activity: Traders purchased 3,570 put options on Itau Unibanco, 138% above the average volume of 1,503 contracts.
• Stock performance and earnings: ITUB rose 0.2% to $9.46, while its latest quarterly EPS of $0.21 narrowly missed analysts’ $0.22 estimate. The stock’s consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $9.87.
• Mixed investor signals: Analysts issued varied views, including an upgraded $10.50 target from Goldman Sachs and a downgrade to “Hold” from HSBC. Institutional investors including Bank of America and Carmignac Gestion significantly increased their holdings, while an insider sold 74,643 shares.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 3,570 put options on the company. This is an increase of 138% compared to the average volume of 1,503 put options.

Itau Unibanco Stock Up 0.2%

ITUB stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $9.46. 6,593,225 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,251,969. The stock has a market cap of $104.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.44, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Itau Unibanco has a 1 year low of $6.80 and a 1 year high of $10.20. The firm's 50 day moving average is $8.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.29.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The bank reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.29 billion. Itau Unibanco had a return on equity of 21.40% and a net margin of 26.41%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Itau Unibanco will post 0.88 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITUB has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Itau Unibanco to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. HSBC downgraded shares of Itau Unibanco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $9.10 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $10.50 target price (up from $9.30) on shares of Itau Unibanco in a report on Friday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Itau Unibanco from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Itau Unibanco from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Itau Unibanco has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $9.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Itau Unibanco

In related news, insider Vanzo Orestes sold 74,643 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.38, for a total value of $625,508.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 933,371 shares in the company, valued at $7,821,648.98. This trade represents a 7.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Itau Unibanco

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ITUB. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Itau Unibanco by 111.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,293,618 shares of the bank's stock valued at $182,139,000 after buying an additional 11,771,394 shares during the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion lifted its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 41.6% during the 2nd quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 12,219,314 shares of the bank's stock valued at $99,832,000 after buying an additional 3,589,092 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 6,579,735 shares of the bank's stock worth $55,088,000 after buying an additional 1,611,094 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 5,286,501 shares of the bank's stock worth $43,191,000 after buying an additional 1,283,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 1.1% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,202,138 shares of the bank's stock worth $43,594,000 after acquiring an additional 58,133 shares during the period.

About Itau Unibanco

Itaú Unibanco Holding SA is a financial services company headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, and one of the largest banking groups in Latin America. The company provides banking and financial products to individuals, small and midsize businesses, large corporations and institutional clients through digital channels and a network of branches and service locations.

Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgages, credit cards, insurance, investment products, asset management, foreign exchange and payment services.

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